Apple’s operation department is currently overseeing the shipment of millions of iPhones headed out to nine countries around the world for a launch event on September 20. The iPhone 5C and 5S will go on sale simultaneously in the US, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and the UK. Bloomberg examined how Apple manages such a rollout and the logistical operation it uses to get the phones where they need to be.

Apple moves finished iPhones from Foxconn and Pegatron to shipping companies with protective security. They are then loaded onto airplanes via “pre-brought airfreight space” including former Russian military transports and for shipments to the US, aboard FedEx Boeing 777 freight planes. Bloomberg says the company makes constant adjustments to iPhone shipments based on real-time product demand. Apple organizes teams from sales, marketing, operations and finance to estimate how many devices will be needed and millions of phones are shipped to distribution centers around the world ahead of the public announcement of the launch. The following was mentioned in the Bloomberg report regarding the matter:

Before Apple's formal unveiling on stage, iPhones are shipped to distribution centers around the world, including Australia, China, the Czech Republic, Japan, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S., said one of the people with knowledge of the matter. Security personnel are with the devices every step of the way, from truck depots, airports, customs and storage warehouses until the product is finally unveiled, two people said.

FedEx ships Apple handsets to the U.S. mainly using Boeing 777s, according to Satish Jindel, a logistics-industry consultant and president of SJ Consulting Group. Those planes can make the 15-hour flight from China to the main U.S. hub for freight shipments in Memphis, Tennessee, without refueling, Jindel said. The 777s can carry about 450,000 iPhones and cost about $242,000 to charter, with fuel accounting for more than half the expense.

After the launch of the new product, Apple continues to “manage the flow of orders from people looking for a specific color [or] memory size.” The iPhone 5S will be coming in 3 colors and 3 capacities while the iPhone 5C has 5 colors and 2 capacities. Not to mention different models for each carrier around the world. The report continued by stating the following:

By monitoring sales from its retail stores, website and third-party resellers, Apple reallocates handsets based on where demand is strongest, one of the people said. iPhones coming off the assembly line in China originally destined for retail stores in Europe could be used to fill a bump in online orders, for instance. The process involves crunching a lot of data.

With the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C set to go on sale in 9 countries on September 20, it’s interesting to see the behind the scenes work Apple has to put in to make sure everything goes smooth.

And why are nine countries getting it at once? While that is nice and all, how about letting the country you're based in get them first. Ya know there isn't enough to go around or they would've had a pre-sale. Now I won't get one for some time as I can't take off a week and a half to camp out at my local Apple store.

Hmmm, if they are not doing 5s pre orders then how can they base the launch shipments on product demand?

Apple has future projections using many sources

They know how many 4g models are out there and active same for 4s , 5 and they have already calculated life span of certain models . From that and other industry supplied information they can make future projections on future sales ..

Wireless Carriers also know who is eligible for upgrade with IOS device or Android device and communicate those numbers to apple so they can use that info in their future projections .

After the phone goes live for sale they adjust per demand .

Remember Apple has contracts that demands they purchase certain amount of handsets from APPL its up to the carriers to see how they move old inventory - refurbished inventory as to not cut sales of new product